Videodrome

So this post's movie is a little out there in more than one way. My advanced film seminar teacher ended up having to cancel this week's class but didn't want to lose out on the film and discussion we would have. His solution, watch the movie on our own time and increase the size of the journal that would have discussed that week's readings. Not a big deal, then I watched the film. Videodrome has got to be one of the weirdest films I have ever seen and felt I had to share my confusion with you. The basic plot of the film is a cable TV programmer, played by James Woods, stumbles upon a pirated television broadcast called videodrome. What starts off as a simple curiosity quickly turns into a much deeper issue involving hallucinations. The film follows Woods' attempt to understand what's happening to him and the issues that each new piece of information brings along with it. Videodrome is truly bizarre to watch. With it's eighties special effects and the larger issues it looks at its pretty easy to get lost. One of the most telling scenes with this film is when his television comes alive and starts to speak with him. It really makes you question what you watch on a daily basis.

Now I realize that my paragraph above is not very descriptive and by no means explains the confusion I am currently feeling. However, the reason I felt it was important to post my thoughts on it actually relates a little bit to our class. The big issue that Videodrome addresses is the conflict that the film industry was having with the introduction of VCRs and the video tape. The film industry has always struggled with changes in media and the introduction of technology that changes people's perception of media. This industry went from having over 80 million patrons visiting it's theaters to 30 million over a twenty year period. This drop was attributed to the introduction and the easily available television set. During this change the film industry was in a state of confusion and tried it's best to overcome the loss of patrons it was having. When the VCR was introduced the film industry had its worries. But unlike TV, VCRs and the video tape actually benefited the industry by having films that were not available before easily accessible. It in the end helped to stimulate the industry and destroy it like so many feared. But like any new advance there are still that question its motives, and this particular result is Videodrome. Videodrome's director David Cronenberg looks at the video tape and the media changes it brings as dangerous. Through videos people are now able to watch things whenever they want and gives the media industry that much more of a grip on society. The dangers that Videodrome sees with this idea is that people will get too involved with the videos they watch and will lose touch with reality. It also concerns this film that people are so willing to allow the media that much control in their lives.

I thought it was interesting to watch this film and the fears it had of the changing film industry and think our recent discussions with the change of the newspaper industry. I feel that like the film industry all of these changes to the newspaper business will be detrimental at first but will eventually turn out to be beneficial. We just need to sit it out and wait for that moment.